The present invention pertains to animal housing systems, and more particularly, to a housing structure incorporating movable walls to permit access through the structure for purposes of cleaning.
In animal housing systems, and most particularly with respect to horse barns, it is common for the barn to be partitioned into individual stalls. Each of the stalls, housing an individual animal or horse, must be cleaned on a daily basis. Such cleaning typically takes the form of manually entering the stall and removing the waste and/or bedding to place the stall in proper condition for the continued habitation for the horse. In large barns, and particularly of the type found at racing facilities, it is common for the individual horse owners to take care of the cleaning of the stalls on a daily basis; however, periodically, and particularly when a race meet is finished (usually several weeks) it becomes the job of the racing organization to thoroughly clean all of the stalls. In most instances, although not always, the horses have been removed from the race grounds. This second type of cleaning must be considerably more thorough than the daily cleanings.
This "thorough" cleaning necessitates the removal of the "bedding" and possibly of the underlying soil. Further, the walls and partitions are usually cleaned and disinfected to prevent the spread of any communicable diseases when the next race meet occurs and new horses enter the stalls. The time consumed in such cleanup operations is considerable. Attempts have been made in the prior art to automate waste disposal in such barns; however, the meticulous and thorough cleaning necessitated on a periodic basis (other than daily) nevertheless requires substantial manual labor with its attendant high cost. Prior art animal housing structures have frequently incorporated movable walls or partitions that have permitted the restructuring of the interior of the building for a variety of purposes. It is not uncommon to have interior walls movable to provide larger or smaller individual stalls or to provide a means for isolating a portion of the structure for a particular purpose such as the isolation of individual animals. None of the prior art animal housing systems provide a system wherein all of the stalls may conveniently be cleaned through the utilization of vehicular equipment by providing a passageway entirely through the stalls and the exterior walls of the structure.